The last time I had traveled this far from my home it had not ended well. Being alone and traveling seemed to do wonders from the ghouls and creeps of the world. But, I was feeling more confident, after all the sun was back out. And, Cirrus had healed my wounds so I could now feel the world around me once more. Clear images beat through my skull as I allowed my legs to stretch out and get closer and closer to where the shoreline was. I just wanted to get closer and closer to something that resembled my old home. I wanted to wade in the waters and feel them as their tendrils wrapped around my lithe frame and welcomed me home. I remember doing something to this effect not that long ago, and having run into someone from the Foothills. Alleo, I believe his name was. And, I would be the first to admit that he was one of the kinder souls that I had run into upon my arrival in these lands.

Gently, I shook my head, and upon feeling the sand against my hooves I broke out into a gallop. I was free. I could smell the salty air as it crawled into my nostrils and reminded me of the home I had left in such a disastrous position. The home that I had needed to leave or risk being killed. The home that I had left my mate and child in. The home that was over run with evil and it's minions. The home that held too many memories for me to every really be gone. My hooves pound in a delicate rhythm. One that has been tweaked and spun in many forms over the years until I had found the one with the least amount of sound and the most amount of ground being covered. I had learned how to be silent over the years, and it did me well. After all, the only problems I seemed to have were when there were thunderstorms that dared to shake the grounds and send my world spinning. Spinning might just be an understatement, though, as I really no longer knew where I was except for the ground that was directly underneath my feet. But now was not the time to be dwelling on the few things that provided me with insecurity. Now was the time to relish the feeling of the water as it lapped up against my freshly healed pelt. I was, after all, a new creature from what I had been a mere week ago.

It was in these last seconds that I allowed my frame to finally stretch out completely and cover as much ground as I possibly could. And, with the sound of gulls flapping in the air in an attempt to fly I couldn't help but to kick my heels up in glee. I was finally back near something that made me feel like I belonged. And, honestly, if I didn't wish for the protection of a family and for a job to complete, nothing would have been able to tear me from this section of Helovia. It would have been my little dominion and I would have been able to attempt to pretend as though everything was normal again.

But nothing would be normal here. There would never be one moment where I could relax and just act like I didn't have to pay attention to what was going on around me. The heartbeat was back. My audits pinned instantly as I came to a sliding halt, sand kicking up in front of me as I back-tracked as quickly as I could. It was far off, but I could feel it and all it did was rotate the memories of the growing heartbeats as they enveloped me and burned at my flesh, singeing my skin and leaving me almost completely immobilized from the pain and lack of ability to move. All I can do is stand there, feeling the water lap against my legs as I peer out toward where the center of the heartbeats is originating from.

Something is different about it, though. And that difference is what has me edging deeper and deeper into the water until I am beginning to wade my way over there. Legs swimming and the muscles working mechanically as they had so many times before in my old home. How I missed the feeling of the water as it carried most of my weight, allowing my thin frame to float. How I missed the feeling of the cool liquid as it splashed into my face and around my chest the more I moved forward. I missed all of these things. And, for some reason, the heartbeat of this other creature was beginning to match with mine - something much different from what had happened in the woods where the heartbeat had tried to force my own body into an erratic rhythm and force me to lose consciousness. This one seemed to be calling me. If only I could get close enough to it to reach it.

I was getting closer though, so close I could almost feel it...